Rebus Letter on Letterhead from Hotel Nicholas, Helena, Arkansas

When she was one month shy of her fifth birthday, Lucia Eames, Charles’s only child, received this rebus letter from her father. A rebus uses simple images to string together sounds into a word or phrase. This game of coding and decoding letters carried on throughout Lucia’s childhood. Charles wrote this letter while working on one of the two churches he designed and built in Arkansas.

The translation for this rebus is: Lucia Angel, I saw many trains and also rode (rowed) --- sunrise (or sunset) one. I hope (hoe) you (pew) had very (furry) nice time (tie) at (mat) Rosede’s party. XXX Daddy